“Your mother knew first,” was my grandpa’s response to my mom. She had just told him that my dad was converting to Catholicism after four years of marriage. Grandpa didn’t say, “If only he learned the rules of baseball, he would be the perfect son-in-law!” though he probably thought this later. He didn’t even say, “I have been praying for this moment!” though he certainly had. His instinctive first reaction was to think of heaven and the one he loved who was waiting for him there.

Our loved ones in heaven remind us that our ultimate goal is joining them in eternal union with God. Earthly concerns and ambitions cannot be the sole focus of our lives, and setting our minds on our heavenly summons makes this clear. The beatitudes in today’s gospel reveal that this life’s joys and sorrows are fleeting and will be transformed.

The states of blessing and woe that Jesus speaks of are familiar from an earthly point of view, but we must look beyond worldly wisdom. The priorities of heaven are different from those of earth. We must trust in Jesus and let go of our short-sighted earthly vision, instead looking ahead toward heaven with hope.

Grandpa stayed positive even near the end of his life, always making me laugh when I visited him in the hospital. He now knows firsthand how every hardship on earth becomes utterly transformed in heaven, although, of course, grandma knew first.

She led him to heaven for nearly thirty years by serving as a reminder that every sorrow he faced would be turned to joy when they reunited. A moment after the hospital chaplain told him that his beloved wife was waiting for him in heaven, he left to join her without fear.